Outdoor writer Dave Graybill seeks out spring chinook

I had a great trip to the lower Columbia River, fishing for spring salmon. I got out with Herb Good of Hood River.

He’s is a legend in salmon fishing, and his long-time friend Dub Burnam, whom I have known for several years, joined us. We tried the mouth of the Klickitat, which is scenically spectacular, and then move our operation further up river.

Herb missed a good hit and I had an unclipped fish to the boat. I was really special spending time with these to people on the Columbia and hope to fish with them this fall. The next day I jumped on board with Shane Magnuson with my video camera.

I picked a good day, as although fishing was tough off the mouth of Wind River, he put six fish in the boat for his clients and me. The 3.5 Mag Lip Flatfish was hot. We got our first four fish on this plug. We finished off with prawn spinners.

Spring salmon continue to pass over Bonneville Dam and the fishing on the lower Columbia will be good for a while yet. I know Magnuson plans to come back to our area to fish the spring salmon season on the Icicle and Wenatchee rivers, which should be good by early June.

About the author

A Seattle native, Mark Yuasa is a lifelong angler who grew up near the banks of Lake Washington and has been covering fishing and outdoors for more than 21 years for The Seattle Times. Read his regular fishing report every Thursday and the outdoor notebook every Sunday.